


Of String Music and Soulmates

by juiceboxjellyfish



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Baz plays the violin, Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2019, M/M, Prompt: Favourite Trope/Cliché, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juiceboxjellyfish/pseuds/juiceboxjellyfish
Summary: A soulmate AU in which you can hear the music your soulmate is listening to in your head.
Relationships: Penelope Bunce & Simon Snow, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 25
Kudos: 287
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	Of String Music and Soulmates

SIMON

“My soulmate has been listening to the same song for over an hour Penny! That shouldn’t be allowed when you have a weird magic thing that broadcasts your music directly into someone else’s brain! I know we’re talking about my soulmate here but _Crowley_ I hate her right now”, I exclaim. Penny, who’s heard it all before, barely looks up from the work we’re supposed to be doing. 

“Simon, you once spent a week listening to nothing but Bohemian Rhapsody, I don’t think you’re allowed to complain”, she responds.

“Bohemian Rhapsody is a classic. If she’s truly my soulmate, she understands that and appreciates my incredible taste.”

“Right. So what did you say she’s been listening to?”

“Classical music.”

Penny gives me a look that says “see?” and returns to her essay like she’s ended the conversation. Since I can’t think of anything to say in response, I suppose she actually has. But not because she’s right. I pull my iPod and my headphones out. 

“Simon, what’re you doing?”

“Bothering my soulmate.”

I pick the loudest song on there and press play.

When I was a kid, I didn’t know about the soulmate thing. Apparently it only applies to mages, so nobody had explained it to me. I assumed I just kept getting random songs stuck in my head. This was a confusing theory, as I’d frequently find myself humming songs I could've sworn I’d never heard before they popped up in my brain, but I just assumed I’d heard them on the radio and forgotten about it. The truth, which I didn’t get explained to me until halfway through year two (people assumed I knew, since it’s a basic fact of life for mages) made a lot more sense. It also meant that whenever I got particularly tired of my soulmate’s music I could force her to listen to mine, which sometimes lead to her giving up and turning hers off. Since phones aren’t allowed at Watford, I got an iPod for this specific purpose. (It’s not foolproof though, my soulmate is clearly very stubborn.)

Whoever my soulmate is, we do not share the same taste in music. She listens to a lot of slow songs, ballads, classical music, and other depressing stuff. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just so angsty and dramatic. I wonder sometimes if I should be worried about her or if her taste is just like that for no reason. I wonder what she thinks about the music I listen to. I don’t really listen to music for the sake of it (even less so when I know someone’s always listening) so I guess she knows less about me than I do about her. Not that I really know anything about her – I haven’t exactly been analysing her choices. Or at least not until recently.

Penny, who’s yet to find her soulmate, pointed out to me when we started year eight that if our soulmates are Watford students, it’ll be a lot harder to find them once we’ve graduated. I hadn’t thought to look for mine – I’ve been busy with all the stuff that comes with being the chosen one – but of course she was right. It would be ridiculous to be under the same roof as your soulmate for eight years without finding them, only to run into them later and be like “wow we could’ve been together for years by now”. So we started looking, kind of. The whole “no phones at Watford”-thing lessens the amount of music people listen to, so neither of us have found anything. Penny’s pretty sure her soulmate just doesn’t go here, though. She spelled her earbuds invisible and spent two weeks listening to obnoxiously loud music to see if anyone would react. Nobody did. I guess I could try the same thing, but it seems a bit extreme. I’m not that desperate yet. I don’t know if you could even really say I’m looking for my soulmate as much as trying to get to know her. I started listening to her music, really listening, instead of just tuning it out or drowning it out. (Unless she plays the same violin piece five hundred times in a row, which is something she does a lot. She just loves the violin, I guess.) It might not be my taste, but I’ve started liking it in a way. (Once again, when she’s not repeating it for hours on end. There are limits.) Once you get over the annoyance of being forced to listen to music whenever someone else feels like it, there’s a sense of intimacy to it. And since I don’t want to take Penny’s aggressive approach I think I’m hoping I’ll find some clue to who it is somewhere in there. I haven’t yet, but I’ve been able to rule some people out. That’s all my looking ever accomplishes. 

“I know I’m not looking as intensely as you”, I say to Penny who’s snuck into our room “but shouldn't I at least be closer to figuring it out? I don’t even have any suspects, I just keep ruling people out.”

“Well, if you rule enough people out there will only be one left. Doesn’t seem like the most efficient tactic, though”, she says.

“But what if I just keep ruling people out until there’s nobody left? What then?” I worry more about this than I’d like to admit. 

“Maybe your soulmate just isn't a Watford student. I don’t think mine is. Maybe yours graduated, or maybe she’s from America”, she suggests. 

“How will I ever meet her then? How do you even know if people are mages outside of Watford?”

“Oh, soulmates always end up meeting somehow. It’s magickal, I think. And it could still be a Watford student! You've only been checking the seven and eight-years, right? Maybe she’s in year six or five or something and you’re supposed to meet again when you’re both older.”

“I guess”, I respond, not fully convinced. 

“Or maybe it’s not a ‘she’ at all”, Penny continues. “It could be a guy for all we know, you haven’t been checking the guys.” She says it just as casually as her other suggestions, like it was just as likely. 

“A guy?”, I ask. 

“Yeah, why not?”, she says in the same casual tone. 

“But… I’m not gay, Penny. At least I don’t _think_ so, and I would’ve noticed by now if I was, right?”

“Maybe. But it doesn’t seem like you’ve ever considered it, so as far as I’m concerned it’s still a possibility.”

“I guess I haven’t, but… I mean, I’ve never had to. Have you considered if _you’re_ gay?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t. Listen Simon, I’m not saying you’re gay. I’m just brainstorming here, so if you’re sure you’re only into girls, let’s just scrap that idea and go back to the others. Who did you say you ruled out?”

A guy. Penny’s right, I have never considered the possibility that it could be a guy. I’ve never considered the possibility that I could like guys. There are a lot of things I’ve never considered, it comes with trying not to think about stuff. Could it be a guy? It seems like this should be an easy question, but it isn’t. I can’t really find any evidence either for or against the idea that I might be into guys, so I can’t just dismiss it. Isn’t eighteen too old to be having this crisis? Apparently not, since it’s three in the morning and I’m lying awake thinking about it.

The string music starts again while we’re at lunch (which rules out anyone currently in the great hall) but I don’t say anything to Penny. I’m still a bit shaken by yesterday’s suggestion and don’t want to risk it coming up again, because I’m not ready to address it. She doesn’t seem to have anything to say to me either, so we eat in silence. Dev and Niall sit down not too far from us, and I can’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation. 

“Is Baz not coming to lunch?”, Niall asks.

“I think he already ate? He sad something about violin practice”, Dev responds.

_It could be a guy._

Before I can stop myself, or even catch up with my own thought process, I’ve turned around and inserted myself into their conversation. 

“Wait”, I interrupt. “Baz plays the violin?” They both look at me like I’m crazy. Penny’s staring at me too, and I see her mouth something like “Simon, what are you doing?” but I don’t care. 

“…Yeah”, Dev says, not unsuspiciously. 

“And he’s practicing now?” They just stare at me, so I ask what I really want to know.

“Where?”

“Mate, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if this is some weird plan of yours-“

“Just tell me where he is!”

“Probably that unused classroom on the third floor, that’s where he usually goe- why am I telling you this?”

I don’t hear the rest of it, because I’m already running out of the hall. They must all think I‘ve lost my mind. I’m not sure I haven’t.

I rush through the corridors and up the stairs like my life depends on it, the music ringing in my ears. As I reach the third floor, the notes in my head mix with the faint sound of an actual, real violin. I run faster, ignoring my pounding heart and burning lungs. The real violin grows louder and louder until it’s indistinguishable from the echo in my ears. I can feel it swelling in my chest and my steps feel light despite the fact that I just ran up three flights of stairs. The classroom door is ever so slightly ajar. I slam it open and there he is. Baz. He twirls around at the noise and stops playing, and the music in my head ends just as abruptly. I stare at him where he stands as I try to catch my breath, and he’s beautiful. There is no music anymore, but I still feel the chords swelling in my chest. 

“Snow, what are you-“

“It’s you”, I breathe. And then I say it again, louder this time. “It’s you!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking abo-“

“What am I listening to?”, I ask, pulling my iPod out of my pocket. Baz stares at me like I’ve gone mad. 

“What are you on about?”

“What am I listening to?”, I repeat, inserting an earbud. He’s still looking at me like I’m a madman, but then I press play. A second passes, and then his mouth falls open. 

“ _Oh_ ”, he whispers as his face lights up. I rip the earbud out and for a moment, we just stay there, staring wordlessly at each other.

“Oh”, he repeats, failing miserably to suppress a wide grin. Three steps is all it takes to close the gap between us, and then I have him in my arms.

“I wanted it to be you”, he admits. And then I kiss him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm honestly shocked I've managed to get this far into the countdown!  
> Some of my works are art though, which are posted to my tumblr, helloiamace.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, they make me extremely happy!


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